It was Nathan Smee, Kaydon Iverson and Tim Reidy who shared the spotlight at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Saturday night (March 28), racing to victory in their respective feature events on the huge triple-bill program. There was action aplenty throughout the night across all categories as more than 100 competitors took to the track.

Once again, the Midgets put on a terrific show in their pursuit of the Ron Wanless Classic, the penultimate round of the Midget Super Series. Sydney’s Nathan Smee saw off an early challenge from Australian champion Adam Clarke and a late charge from expat Kiwi Michael Kendall to win the 30-lap feature event. Although he led every lap of the event from pole position, it was far from easy at the front of the field for Smee with Clarke and Kendall in dogged pursuit. In the end it was Kendall who secured the runner-up position, with Clarke faltering in the shadows of the chequer to surrender third spot to Matt Greenwood, who drove splendidly in advancing from position seven. Rusty Whittaker backed up his Queensland Championship win with another impressive run into fifth behind Clarke, with Mitch Brien, Darren Vine, Adam Wallis, Brock Dean and Paul Murphy rounding out the top ten.

Clarke kicked off proceedings with the quickest lap in time trials before surging from the back of the field to finish second behind Smee in the opening heat. Other heat winners included Greenwood (2), Brien, Whittaker and Kendall, with Mark George taking out the B Main over Reid Mackay, Glen Shaw and Rodney Harders. The Pole Shootout saw Dean and Greenwood eliminated in the opening round, with Brien and Whittaker bowing out in round two. In the final round, Smee edged out Clarke and Kendall to secure pole position for the 30-lap event.

The Queensland Formula 500 Championship feature race produced all the drama you would expect from such an event, with both Dale Shilleto and Victorian Dylan Willsher crashing out while in a championship-winning position. Shilleto, the defending champion, was the first to go when he tipped over in turn three on lap 12. On lap 19 and seemingly with the race in his keeping, Willsher flipped out of contention in the same spot, handing the lead to Kaydon Iverson. Having started from the outside of row four, Kristin Brown made steady forward progress and at one stage had moved ahead of Iverson, only for a restart to negate the pass. Despite her best efforts, Brown couldn’t usurp Iverson again and had to settle for second place ahead of her brother Charlie, who put in great drive from the back of the pack having transferred from the B Main. The first interstater home was Jack Bell in fourth, followed Josh Buckingham, Billy Foyle, Cody Maroske and Brad Metcalfe, with Shilleto soldiering on with a crumpled top wing to finish ninth.

Shilleto was the standout in heats, winning all three of his starts to secure pole position for the 30-lap feature race. Also victorious in the heats were Metcalfe, Buckingham, Iverson, Willsher, Bell and Kristin Brown. The B Main saw Charlie Brown bounce back after failing to finish two of his heats, leading the quartet of qualifiers – which also included Nathan Pronger, Tristan Johnson and Alan Iverson - into the main event.

The Queensland AMCA Nationals Championship trophy is again heading out of the state with Victoria’s Tim Reidy leading the field home in a hotly contested 30-lap feature race that featured three different leaders. Matt Hardy set the pace early from pole position, before succumbing to Reidy on lap seven. Current Northern Territory champion Nick Stubbs moved ahead of Hardy on lap 11 and then set about reeling in the leader. On lap 20, Stubbs swept into the lead, only to surrender his ascendancy two laps later when Reidy again took control. There were no further changes from this point with Reidy leading Stubbs and Hardy to the line in advance of NSW’s Tony Blanch, Russ Hardy, Jason Molle, Matt Enders and Mark Horstman.

Hardy was the only driver to score two heat wins, with Reidy, Stubbs, Geoff Hayes, Jamie Collins, Luke Frenken, Thomas Vickery and Spano Gutierrez snaring one apiece.

The Modlite feature event was family affair with Jamie McHugh and Lachy McHugh finishing first and second respectively. Australian Champion Terry Leerentveld completed the podium, with Kevin Britten and Wayne Donaldson rounding out the first five.

The Compact Speedcar feature event produced the closest finish of the night when Rob Stewart pounced in the final turn to snatch the lead from Dave Collins in the sprint to the chequer. Wayne Corbett was next best in the depleted field, followed by Audie Malt and Dave Swan.